Congressman Shuler's Blog and the Asheville Citizen Times - Conflict of interest?

My favorite new blog is by congressman Heath Shuler. (I'll call it "ShulerBlog" here as a shorthand.) It's hosted on the Asheville Citizen-Times (AC-T) website, and is a must-visit blog for anyone who lives in Western North Carolina. ShulerBlog has the right mix of information about what he's working on for the district, and, the occasional lighthearted post, such as this one about a new staffer.

There are some things I wish I could change about ShulerBlog; for example, I don't like that comments are moderated, or that bloggers can't leave their URL - but by and large, I give Shuler's first foray into the blogoshere a solid "A".

Having said this - it appears that Shuler and the AC-T have unwittingly gotten into a relationship with an inherent conflict-of-interest. After all, as a newspaper, the primary job of the AC-T is to report the news and act as a watchdog on policy-makers.

Is it a good idea to have a congressperson produce content that is hosted on the watch-dogs web platform?

Is it ethical to sell ads next to said content?

Who owns the rights to the content? If I were to start copying a whole pages of ShulerBlog to my own site, would I get a cease-and-desist letter from the AC-T's lawyers, or Shuler's?

Does having a congressman as a major draw to a newspaper's on-line property make it more difficult for journalists to get approval for hard-hitting stories against the said congressman?

These are important questions that need to be addressed as soon as possible before problems arise.

For example: Is it unreasonable for Shuler's Republican opponent in 2008 to assert that the AC-T is not critical of the incumbent because he has a valuable blog on their property that they don't want to endanger?

I, for one, say that the above accusation would be a fair one even though I personally believe that the editors of the AC-T are ethical people who take their responsibilities as journalists seriously.

It's just that blogs are so brand-new that many people don't understand what their proper role is. Heck, I struggle with the role of blogging - and I do nothing but eat, sleep and breathe this stuff.

Blogs are not like Op-Eds that a public servant might be asked to write for the local paper about a particular issue. They are an interactive medium that requires a higher level of commitment from the newspaper and the writer. There are other important differences that beg the question: How much control does an editor have over a blogger that's not on the payroll?*

It is my opinion that Shuler should remove his blog from the AC-T platform to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest or collusion.

As a high-profile elected official, Shuler does not need the AC-T to generate traffic or get his blog's message across. Furthermore, considering how easy it is to create and maintain a blog these days, he does not need their technical support either.

While the web-advertising department at the AC-T might be chagrined at losing Shuler, their whole organization will benefit; since having him on board might damage the long-term credibility of the site.

I'm not close-minded about this issue, however. I welcome feedback from Shuler, the AC-T or anyone who disagrees with my assessment.

In this case, the counterpoint is in the commentssection of this post.

Tags: Shuler - Blog - conflict of interest - newspaper - Asheville Citizen Times - ethics - Congressman - ShulerBlog - Blog ethics

* Note: To make the point as to how different newspapers are to blogs, this sentence was added about 20 minutes after I originally posted. A newspaper editor would never allow a reporter to make this kind of edit on a blog without a disclaimer - would the editor be able to force a congressman to do the same?

BTW: Final edit for spelling and grammar: 02/15/2007 @ 13:44 EST.

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